Association between Obstructive sleep apnea and risk of Benign vocal
fold lesions : A nationwide 9-year follow-up cohort study
Abstract
Study objective Since, OSA affects various parts of the body, there has
been little interest about the effect of OSA on voice. The objective of
this study was to evaluate the risk of benign vocal fold lesions (BVFL)
in OSA patients Methods This retrospective cohort study used data from
the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. The study group
was defined as the group diagnosed with OSA between 2008 and 2011.
Non-OSA groups were selected based on propensity score matching.
Incidence of BVFL among participants during the follow-up was analyzed.
Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to evaluate
the association between OSA and incident BVFL. Results The HR value of
the OSA group calculated by considering eight variables indicates that
the risk of developing BVFL is 79% higher than that of the control
group. Further, among OSA patients, patients with a history of OP had a
35% lower risk of developing BVFL. The relationships between BVFL and
seven individual variables considered were as follows: 1) For age, HR
for the 40-59 years group was 1.20 (95%CI, 1.09-1.32). 2) For sex, the
HR in the female group was 1.22 (95%CI, 1.10-1.35). 3) For residential
areas, the HR values for “Seoul” 1.39(95%CI, 1.23-1.59). 4) In the
high economic status group, the HR was 1.10 (95%CI, 1.01-1.21).
Conclusions and Relevance This observational study indicated that OSA is
associated with an increased incidence of BVFL. The incidence of BVFL
increased with older age, female sex, and high SES.